Rocking chair



W. S. PIPER June 27, 1939.

ROCKING CHAI'R Filed Jan. '7, 1939 Mafia!" 5 Hp?!" cl Patented June 27,1939 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROCKING CHAIR Walter- S. Piper,Sheboygan, Wis.

Application January 7,1939, Serial No. 249,746

, 2 Claims.

the construction has been such that the mechanism for joining the chairstructure to the leg 15 structure was so located that unlessa valancewas draped from the base of the chair structure, this mechanism was inplain view which, of course, is objectionable from the standpoint ofappearance.

It is, therefore, an important object of this invention to provide arocking chair of the character described which is so designed andconstructed that the entire mechanism which movably mounts the chairstructure on its legs and which,

, 25 to assure the desired free swinging action and comfort, iscompletely concealed from view entirely without the need for a valance.Another object of this invention is to provide a chair of the characterdescribed, which is '30 so designed and constructed that the springdevice which constitutes the mechanism for mov-- ably supporting thechair structure from its legs is disposed in the space defined by thebase of the chair structure to thus permit a lower over- 35 all heightand improve the appearanceof the chair.

With the above and other objects in view which 1 will appear as thedescription proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction,combi- 40 nation and arrangements of parts substantially as hereinafterdescribed, and more particularly defined by the appended claims, itbeing understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of thehereindisclosed invention may be 45 made as come within the scope oftheclaims.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one complete example of thephysical embodiment of the invention constructed in accordance with thebest mode so far devised for the practical appli- 50 cation of theprinciples thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is aside view of a rocking chair constructed in accordance.with this invention with parts thereof broken away and in section; andFigure 2 is a bottom-view of the chair.

65 Referring now particularly to the accompanying drawing, in which likenumerals indicate like parts, the numeral 4 designates the chairstructure generally which; as is customary, comprises a seat 5, a back6, and arms I. The lower portion or base 8 of the chair structureincludes side members 9 joined by'front and back transverse members it!and II, respectively, and by a strong cross piece l2 positionedsubstantially midway between the front and back transverse members. a

The entire structure is movably mounted on a leg structure indicatedgenerally by the numeral l3. This leg structure consists of two parallelside rails joined by front and back cross rails l5 and I6, respectively.

The side rails of the leg structure are preferably spaced apart adistance less than the spacign between the side members of the chairstructure'base so that the base may sink beneath the top of the legstructure; For the sake of appearance, the lower edges of the sidemembers I and 'the top edges of the side rails 14 are correspondinglycurved, but any configuration may be used as there is'no actual rockingsupport.

Instead, the pair structure is suspended from the leg structure by meansof two spring devices indicated generally by the numeral [1. Each springdevice is formed from a single length of a spring wire and includes apair of coils l8 joined by a straight length of wire l9 and havingspring arms extending forwardly and backwardly,

the extremities of the spring arms being bent angularly. These angularlydisposed'ends of the spring arms are received in tubes 2|.

The front ends of the spring arms 20 are hinged to the adjacent frontcross rail {5 of the leg structure by clips 22 and the rear ends or thespring arms 20 have a double hinge connection with the adjacent backtransverse rail l6 provided by brackets 23 fixed to the rail l6 andlinks 24 attached at one end to the ends of the spring arms and at theirother ends to a rod 25 mounted in the brackets 23.

The straight lengths IQ of spring devices are anchored to theundersurface of the cross member H by clips 26.

With this construction, the chair structure is normally held in itsposition shown in Figure 1 but is free to descend a distance dependingupon the weight of the occupant and to rock forwardly and backwardly, Aslight side motion-is also permitted, which gives the effect of afloating support for the chair structure.

Particular attention is directed to the fact that the construction ofthe chair structure permits the spring devices to be located above thelower edge of the side members 9. This disposition of the spring devicesobviously allows the overall height. of the chair to be less andobviates the necessity for providing a valance or any other ing theirends anchored to the front and back cross members It! and II.

Each wire spring has a zigzag formation to provide resiliency but thecombined stren'gth'of these springs is sufiicient to at all timesmaintain an adequate arch-to the seat support toprovide the necessaryspace for the spring devices.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, it will be readiy apparent to those-skilled in the art thatthis invention greatly improves the construction of a rocking chair ofthe type having a stationary leg structure and that it adds materiallyto the appearance of the chair by obviating the. necessity for special.means for concealing the spring device which supports the chair properfrom the stationary leg structure.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a rocking chair of the type having a stationary leg structureincludingfront, rear and side rails and a chair structure mountedthereon by means of-a spring device which permits descent of the chairstructure as well as rocking motion, the combination of: means in thebottom of the chair structure to which the spring device is secured; andrigid front and side walls on the frame of the chair structure extendingsubstantially below the level of said means sufliciently to concealthose portions of the spring device located above the leg structure,said means to which the spring device is secured extending between thechair frame side walls, the lower edges of said rigid side walls beingconvexly arched so as toenable rocking of the chair structureto extremepositions without having the-rigid side walls contact the floor evenwhen the chair structure is caused to descend to an extreme position.

2. In a rocking chair of the type having a stationary legstructurdincluding front, rear and side rails and a chair structuremounted -thereon by means of a spring device which permits descent ofthe chair structure as well as rocking motion, the combination of: aresilient seat support on the frame of the chair structure arched fromfrontto back to provide substantial space beneath the bottom of itsmedial portion and the lower edges of the side walls of the frame of thechair structure; and a strong cross member joining the side walls of thechair structure frame a substantial distance above the lower edgesthereof and in said space, said cross member having the spring devicesecured to its undersurface, and

' said side walls of the frame of the chair structure extending belowthe level of said transverse member sufficiently to conceal thoseportions of the spring device located above the leg structure.

WALTER S. PIPER.

